Will insects save us from plastic? In particular, the functions of some of them already help humanity to dispose of polluting material and to integrate the protein substances of food. This is the Tenebrio Molitor which has the identical characteristics ofAlphitobius diaperinus, carefully observed for 4 years by researchers from the Esz Lab of the University of Siena. Both are beetles and constitute the food and environmental biotechnology novelties of scientific research to remedy the damage of unbridled nutrition and pollution of our planet.
In the case of food, it all started with a French company which, after having done extensive studies on Tenebrio Molitor, sent its dossier to the European Commission to request authorization for the marketing of high protein flours. The Commission wanted the opinion of EFSA (European Food Safety Authority) which, after careful investigations, expressed its consent. “Let’s talk about novel food – explains Giorgia Andreis, food law attorney – of products that before ’97 were not known in Europe. The Commission’s proposal for an implementing act is now assessed by the European Committee for Plants, Animals and Feed and will only enter into force from its publication in the official journal ”.
But be careful because there is a detail on the subject of data protection: “Data protection has been requested and obtained – continues Andreis – so for the next 5 years, companies that want to market this food will have to send a request to the European Commission or solicit an agreement with the French company “. It is a major step towards the farm to fork of the European strategy that helps the sustainability of food and does not affect safety. “Just think – observes the lawyer – that EFSA in evaluating the characteristics of the food has also studied its safety from the point of view of allergies, finding that problems could occur in subjects sensitive to mites and crustaceans.”.
The functions of the two beetles having the same characteristics amaze the same researchers who by pure chance have identified another precious contribution that they can make to our coexistence. The professor himself tells it Antonio Carapelli, at the head of the group of researchers at the University of Siena: “We had asked the laboratory for some of our insights into the larvae of Alphitobius diaperinus which is similar in everything to the Tenebrio. They were inside polystyrene boxes. After a few days we realized that they had dug tunnels and ate a large part of the container ”.
It is from there that the operation for the isolation of the bacteria that in the intestine are the main authors of the destruction of polystyrene and foam rubber began. Thanks to a worldwide database, DNA sequencing was compared with those already known and believed to be identical. It is during this period that the bacteria that will destroy the plastic will be chosen.
In a not so distant future we could imagine containers that with the same temperature necessary for the life of bacteria are able to destroy these plastic materials that we discard. A kind of unique and natural recycling. These are beetles that live at a mitigated temperature but for a few weeks they can also remain below freezing. Their natural cycle is about one year and there are three stages of their life: from egg to larva and after six months to pupa, therefore definitively adult insect. Bacteria, those that have been the subject of scientific research, have a very fast ability to reproduce. “Scientific research, as in this case, is important for progress – says Carapelli – but it is not always taken into consideration for what it deserves in our country.”
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